as in brawl
a rough and often noisy fight usually involving several people
a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of melee
More than a dozen people faced criminal charges stemming from a melee after a rally in Soliman’s support; demonstrators and police blame each other for the violence July 17.
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Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
Director Fujii Michihito, working alongside Okada, has crafted what promises to be a visual spectacle, particularly evident in the large-scale melee sequence at Tenryuji Temple.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
That’s when the demo ushered in a wave of gory action involving visceral melee combat and gunplay.
—Joshua Lamb, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
During the melee, several punches were thrown.
—Felipe Cardenas, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for melee
Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
Director Fujii Michihito, working alongside Okada, has crafted what promises to be a visual spectacle, particularly evident in the large-scale melee sequence at Tenryuji Temple.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
That’s when the demo ushered in a wave of gory action involving visceral melee combat and gunplay.
—Joshua Lamb, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
During the melee, several punches were thrown.
—Felipe Cardenas, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for melee
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melee
Noun
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Four deputies suffered minor injuries while breaking up the brawl, authorities said.—
Jason Green,
Mercury News,
27 Sep. 2025
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In July, a group of girls got into a brawl near the restaurant's entrance that others recorded and posted on social media.—
Robert Anglen,
AZCentral.com,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
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All these years later, Corigliano’s symphony has outlasted those skirmishes and emerged sounding fresh and exciting and powerful.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2025
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Although the Hatfield-McCoy relationship has been fraught since the birth of the medium, streaming and cord-cutting has turned financial skirmishes into an existential contest.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
20 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Melee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melee. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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